HOT AIR: DEMS UP ALL NIGHT FOR CLIMATE CHANGE – Matthew Daly writes for the Associated Press: “It's a lot of hot air about a lot of hot air. Democrats took to the Senate floor Monday night to talk about global warming and planned not to let up until morning. Leading off the dusk-to-dawn talkathon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called climate change ‘a question of our own survival’ and said the United States and other countries have a responsibility to act ‘before it is too late.’ At least 28 senators were expected to participate. But several Democrats who face tough re-election fights in the fall opted to skip the session. Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mark Begich of Alaska were among them.

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-- “Democratic leaders have no plans to bring a climate bill to the Senate floor this year, so the speeches were about little more than theatrics. House Democrats pushed through a bill to limit greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming in 2009, then lost their majority the following election. … Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the talkathon amounted to ‘30 hours of excuses’ from senators who think it's OK that ‘families are losing work because of government attacks on the coal industry.’ … ‘It's cruel to tell struggling coal families that they can't have a job because some billionaire from San Francisco disagrees with their line of work.’

-- “McConnell was referring to Tom Steyer, a former hedge-fund manager and environmentalist who says he will spend $100 million — $50 million of his own money and $50 million from other donors — to make climate change a top-tier issue in the 2014 elections. Steyer spent millions to help pass a California ballot measure to boost spending on energy efficiency programs and help elect Democrats Terry McAuliffe as Virginia governor and Edward Markey as U.S. senator from Massachusetts.” http://yhoo.it/1kIyxyZ

DANA MILBANK: “Seeking action on global warming is a worthy endeavor, and the night owls deserve praise for the enthusiasm. But burning the midnight oil in this manner is peculiar. Usually, when a lawmaker talks all night, he’s trying to stop the majority from passing something. But these guys are trying to persuade the majority — themselves — to pass something.”http://wapo.st/1nfzelh

** Presented by RepealSGR.org: Congress has bipartisan/bicameral legislation to repeal the SGRand reform the Medicare physician payment system. This new system will be sustainable, fair and efficient, secure patient access, and encourage quality, affordable care. Republican and Democratic Leadership in Congress need to continue working together to develop bipartisan pay-fors. www.repealsgr.org

SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY heads to the Hill this week to testify about the national security and foreign policy priorities in President Obama’s fiscal 2015 budget request. The former senator appears before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday and before the House Foreign Affairs Committee at 1:30 Thursday, as international attention continues to be focused on the Ukraine crisis.

HOUSE ENERGY AND COMMERCE CHAIRMAN FRED UPTON (R-MICH.)said his panel will launch an investigation into GM’s response to an ignition-switch defect linked to 31 crashes and 13 deaths. A Congressional committee will investigate General Motors’ response to an ignition switch defect that is now linked to 13 deaths and 31 crashes. Upton “said the committee would examine why GM and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration failed to act quickly when customers started reporting problems nearly a decade ago,” writes the Detroit Free-Press’ Nathan Bomey. http://on.freep.com/1nECIL4 Wall Street Journal, A1 lead: “Congress to Investigate Recall by GM.” http://on.wsj.com/1oHZZue

REP. MARK SANFORD (R-S.C.) claims the government didn’t really shut down during last fall’s government shutdown. Cue the DCCC news releases. Buzzfeed: http://bzfd.it/1fluuR6

MITCH McCONNELL’S EARMARKS – John Bresnahan reports for POLITICO: “There’s the Mitch McConnell Park in Bowling Green. Owensboro, located on the banks of the Ohio River, is home to the Mitch McConnell Plaza and Walkway. Western Kentucky University has the Mitch McConnell Integrated Applications Laboratory, while the University of Kentucky features the Mitch McConnell Center for Distance Learning. Each of these projects benefited from large servings of — in some cases, tens of millions of dollars — federal pork. Before earmarks were banned in 2010 following the GOP takeover of the House, McConnell spent the previous decade earmarking more than $110 million in federal funds to Bluegrass State programs and projects that included his name, or that of his wife, former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao.

-- “McConnell’s days as a profligate spender are now being used by Matt Bevin, his Republican rival in the 2014 reelection campaign, to slam him. When asked about the earmark-funded monuments back home, McConnell aides dismiss them as old news that have no relation to the frugal, budget-hawkish Mitch McConnell of today.

-- “Yet one program on which you won’t find the senator’s name anymore is the McConnell Technology & Training Center, which used to be found in Louisville. Despite more than $90 million in federal funds, the MTTC and the nonprofit that ran it officially went belly up last year. It’s a classic case of a program or project that relies heavily on one lawmaker running into trouble when political fortunes shift. The program was originally called the Manufacturing Technology Transfer Center, but officially changed its title in 2000 to include McConnell’s name. McConnell earmarked $6 million for the center in 1996.” http://politi.co/1enps78

PROXY WAR – “Harry Reid plots to block potential 2016 foe,” By POLITICO’s Manu Raju: “Harry Reid isn’t on Nevada’s ballot this year, but he may as well be. The shrewd Senate majority leader is putting the strength of his formidable political machine behind a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor whose fate could have major implications for Reid’s own three-decade congressional career. The race is rapidly becoming a proxy war between Reid and popular Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, who is viewed by both parties as the toughest potential challenger to Reid in 2016. If a Democrat were to win the lieutenant governor’s race, it’s widely believed that Sandoval wouldn’t challenge Reid, since it would mean turning over the governorship to a Democrat if Sandoval won. But that calculation changes if a Republican captures the lieutenant governor’s seat in November.” http://politi.co/1ltozib

-- COULD THE SENATE WORK AGAIN? “Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) is expected to cede control of the floor to the bill’s lead sponsors, Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who will lead the debate and allow Democrats and Republicans to introduce amendments,” Ed O’Keefe and Paul Kane write for the WaPo. “More important — if it works — Reid is expected to permit more debate on other bipartisan measures on subjects ranging from sentencing overhauls to manufacturing and energy efficiency. … Two people who get much of the credit for this development are Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who arguably have developed the most important friendship in the Senate in recent years.” http://wapo.st/1iwk60V

POLICE: PASSENGER WITH STOLEN PASSPORT HAD NO TERROR TIES – The New York Times’ Thomas Fuller and Jane Perlez report from Sepang, Malaysia: “The Malaysian police said on Tuesday that one of the two passengers known to have used stolen passports to board the missing Malaysian airliner was a 19-year-old Iranian who wanted to migrate to Germany and appeared to have no connection to terrorist organizations. The passenger, who was using a passport that had been stolen from an Austrian man, was traveling to Germany, where he was to meet his mother, said Khalid Abu Bakar, the inspector general of the Malaysian police. … Mr. Khalid said that the authorities had not yet identified the second passenger on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 who had been traveling on a stolen passport, but he said that the person had arrived in Malaysia on the same day, Feb. 28.” http://nyti.ms/1gmE2fE

A BIGGER, MORE SECURE BOSTON MARATHON – Maria Cramer writes on A1 of the Boston Globe: “More than 3,500 police officers from at least 10 agencies, twice as many officers as last year, will line the Boston Marathon route next month as part of an intensive security operation that will employ more surveillance cameras, bomb-sniffing dogs, and limitations on spectators’ interactions with runners than ever before. With at least 1 million people expected along the route, twice the number of spectators as in the past, police are discouraging spectators from wearing backpacks, hauling coolers, or carrying containers that hold more than a liter of liquid, state officials announced Monday.” http://b.globe.com/1emgo2z

MICHIGAN, MONTANA MOVES -- JUSTIN TALBOT ZORN began this week as legislative director for Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), whom he described as “a longtime hero of mine.” He had been LD for Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.). “It’s been an incredible honor working for Congresswoman Wilson and supporting her mission of ending the School-to-Prison Pipeline and getting Congress focused on job-creation,” he wrote in an email to colleagues. “Team Wilson will always be family.”

-- JOSH DORNER has been named communications director for Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.). He previously had served as director of communications and advocacy for the Center for American Progress Action Fund and communications director for the Center for American Progress. Before that, he spent four years heading up communications strategy and media for all of the Sierra Club’s energy and climate change work and served as deputy communications director at the Clean Energy Works campaign. Dorner replaces Cullen Schwarz, who is now press secretary at USDA.

-- ANDREA HELLING says she’s “thrilled to be working for another Great Montanan.” Formerly a comms director – and seven-year staffer – for Sen. Jon Tester, she’s been named deputy chief of staff and communications director to newly appointed Sen. John Walsh, a Democrat who is running for a full term to replace retired Sen. Max Baucus. Helling will be replaced in Tester’s office by Marnee Banks, a news director at the Great Falls CBS station, who starts on Monday.

-- Walsh also hired several Baucus alums.ELIZABETH KELLEY, Baucus’s deputy chief of staff, has been brought on as Walsh’s chief of staff, while BRIANNE DUGAN joins Walsh’s team as his Montana chief of staff in Bozeman. She had worked for Baucus since 2005. More here:http://bit.ly/1cPrDzS

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, MARCH 11, 2014, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of all the action on Capitol Hill. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to swong@politico.com. If you don’t already, please follow me on Twitter @scottwongDC.

TODAY IN CONGRESS – The Senate is continuing its all-night talk-a-thon on climate change through this morning. At 11:30 a.m., the Senate will hold procedural votes on the nominations of four judges: Matthew Frederick Leitman to be a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan; Judith Ellen Levy to be a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan; Laurie J. Michelson to be a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan; and Linda Vivienne Parker to be a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan. If cloture is invoked on any of the nominations, the Senate will vote Wednesday on their confirmations.

The House is in at noon with votes expected at 6:30 p.m. on numerous bills considered under suspension of the rules, including: The Farmers Undertake Environmental Land Stewardship (FUELS) Act, Equitable Access to Care and Health (EACH) Act, Hire More Heroes Act and a resolution condemning the violation of Ukrainian sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity by Russian military forces.

AROUND THE HILL – Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin delivers a policy address titled, “Maintaining America’s Global Leadership in Innovation and Discovery,” at 10:30 a.m. at the Center for National Policy, 1250 I St. NW, Suite 500. House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer holds a pen and pad briefing at noon in H-144. Sens. Tom Harkin, Lamar Alexander, Barbara Mikulski and Richard Burr speak on child care and development block grant program, at noon in S-115.

Rep. Elizabeth Esty hosts Team 26 cyclists in honor of Newtown victims and reducing gun violence at 1 p.m. on the West Lawn. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, sponsor of the International Violence Against Women Act, speaks at the NPC Newsmaker news conference at 2 p.m. at the National Press Building, 529 14th St. NW.

FLORIDA ELECTION DAY: SINK VS. JOLLY – “After almost $9 million in outside spending, a storm of attacks and counterattacks and endless speculation about its implications for the midterms, voters will cast their ballots in the Florida special congressional election on Tuesday,” writes POLITICO’s Alex Isenstadt. “The stakes are particularly high for Democrats. The party has bet big on Alex Sink, Florida’s former chief financial officer and the Democrats’ 2010 gubernatorial nominee, in the race for the swing 13th Congressional District …

-- “A win, Democrats hope, will deflate the conventional wisdom that 2014 is destined to go south for them. For the GOP, the race has been an opportunity to test-drive attacks on Obamacare, which are certain to be the centerpiece of its argument in this year’s midterm elections. And while national Republicans complain that their candidate, former Washington lobbyist David Jolly, has been lackluster, public polling suggests the race is tight. The two candidates are vying to replace GOP Rep. Bill Young, who died in October after representing the seat for more than four decades.” http://politi.co/1fnkk7i

GOP AIMS TO NEUTRALIZE IMMIGRATION AS ELECTION ISSUE – The AP’s Nicholas Riccard, in Aurora, Colo: “If the apparent slow death of immigration legislation has any political repercussions this year, they probably will be felt in the subdivisions, shopping centers and ethnic eateries wrapped around Denver's southern end. U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman represents this fast-changing district. He's among a few vulnerable Republican members in line to be targeted by immigrant rights advocates if the House doesn't pass an immigration bill before the November election that would offer legal status to millions of people who entered the U.S. illegally or overstayed their visas.

-- “Coffman was elected in 2008 to succeed immigration firebrand Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo. Coffman endorsed Tancredo in the 2010 governor's race, which he lost, and initially backed measures such as barring U.S. citizenship to children whose parents were in the country without legal permission. Coffman also supported allowing English-only ballots in districts with large immigrant populations. But his district was redrawn to include immigrant-heavy Aurora. After seeing fast-growing Hispanic and Asian populations overwhelmingly back Democrats in 2012, Coffman embraced citizenship for people brought to the U.S. illegally as children. He announced his new position in Spanish.” http://abcn.ws/1kHpizb

-- The right-left immigration alliance is fraying, reports our own Seung Min Kim: “Conservative groups are intensifying pressure on House Republicans to overhaul immigration laws this year as the push for legislation becomes more urgent. In recent weeks, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a broad coalition of Christian leaders flooded Capitol Hill with letters stressing the urgency of immigration reform. … And [on Monday] the Bibles, Badges and Business group, a nationwide coalition of several hundred pro-reform faith, law enforcement and business organizations, will launch a pair of ads making the conservative case for an overhaul. It’s the type of grassroots lobbying that would normally delight immigration reform activists. But with an overhaul seeming less likely with each passing day, liberal immigration groups say their allies on the right aren’t going far enough.” http://politi.co/1gmCIt4

PAUL VS. CRUZ – “It's on!” writes L.A. Times columnist Jonah Goldberg. “Ostensible allies for the last couple years, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have commenced the battle for the unofficial title of conservative front-runner. That's no surprise, but what is remarkable is their choice of weapons: foreign policy. … The first round began in earnest less than 24 hours after Paul — to no one's surprise — won the Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll by a country mile … ‘I'm a big fan of Rand Paul. He and I are good friends. I don't agree with him on foreign policy,’ Cruz said on ABC's ‘This Week.’ ‘I think U.S. leadership is critical in the world. And I agree with him that we should be very reluctant to deploy military force abroad. But I think there is a vital role, just as Ronald Reagan did.... The United States has a responsibility to defend our values.’

-- “Paul responded almost immediately with an op-ed for Breitbart.com that was, depending on your reading, either a gentle rebuke or a not-so-passive-aggressive attack on Cruz. ‘Some politicians,’ he said, ‘have used this time to beat their chest. What we don't need right now is politicians who have never seen war talking tough for the sake of their political careers.’ … Paul offers a version of his father's effort — during the 2008 and 2012 presidential primaries — to cast the Gipper as a noninterventionist who was plagued by hawks to his right.” http://lat.ms/1nfECVw

-- “Ted Cruz Is Calling Time-Out on His Role at NRSC—For Now,” By National Journal’s Michael Catalini: http://bit.ly/1i2C3AV

EDWARD SNOWDEN, speaking via live video conference to the South By Southwest conference, said he has no regrets for leaking classified documents from the NSA. AP: “‘And when it comes to would I do this again, the answer is absolutely yes,’ he told the audience. ‘I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and I saw that the Constitution was violated on a massive scale,’ he added.” http://bit.ly/1dLnRLv

THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION named Cornell President David J. Skorton as its next leader. WaPo: http://wapo.st/1lqSqrx

McCASKILL’S SEXUAL ASSAULT BILL PASSES 97-0 – Darren Samuelsohn writes for POLITICO: “Sen. Claire McCaskill’s legislation to force changes in the military’s sexual assault policies passed the Senate on Monday without dissent, capping her latest bid to get the Pentagon to clean up its ranks. The 97-0 vote on the Missouri Democrat’s measure establishing new rules for how victims and defendants should be treated came as no surprise, particularly since it had already cleared a procedural vote to final passage, 100-0. … McCaskill’s approach, touted in a recent Washington Post column as ‘meatier than advertised,’ would eliminate the ‘good soldier’ legal defense from evidence rules unless a defendant’s military character is directly tied to the alleged crime. …

-- “McCaskill’s measure now heads to the House, where Republican and Democratic aides say they expect to see her proposals surface during debate later this year on the new defense authorization bill.” http://politi.co/N25NSW

CAMP MAKES LIFE TOUGH FOR RYAN – Brian Faler reports for the hometown paper: “Most House Republicans wanted nothing to do with the Ways and Means committee chairman [Dave Camp’s] tax reform proposal when he unveiled it last month, which might have been the end of the story. But their annual budget is due next month, and Republicans are wrestling over what to do with their chief tax writer’s wildly controversial proposal as they write their 2015 tax-and-spending manifesto. … Many Republicans don’t want to include anything in their budget that Democrats could frame as an endorsement of Camp’s plans, which would curb tax breaks for everything from mortgage interest to charitable deductions to major business accounting. They are in a tight spot: budget panel chair Paul Ryan has been promising a tax overhaul for three years, and if they continue to blithely promise reform while ignoring the difficult choices laid out in Camp’s proposal, Democrats will surely pounce.” http://politi.co/1fnmSlW

‘PROSECUTORS: VINCENT GRAY KNEW’ -- The 5-column banner headline on A1 of the Washington Post. Ann E. Marimow, Matt Zapotosky and Paul Schwartzman report: “Mayor Vincent C. Gray had detailed knowledge about an illegal fundraising operation that helped him capture the 2010 election and personally asked a prominent D.C. business executive to finance the scheme, prosecutors said Monday. At a court hearing likely to roil the current mayoral race, prosecutors for the first time alleged that Gray (D) knew about businessman Jeffrey E. Thompson’s conspiracy to pump more than $660,000 in illegal donations into the campaign. In fact, prosecutors said, Gray and the businessman devised a plan in which Gray would refer to Thompson as ‘Uncle Earl’ to conceal his identity. At one point, Gray gave Thompson a one-page, $425,000 budget request that the businessman then funded, according to the plea agreement.” http://wapo.st/1is7B27

STEVE STOCKMAN’S AWESOME HOT TUB PARTY – Dave Weigel writes in Slate: “On Saturday night, as CPAC ended and its thousands of attendees scattered, I followed some friends and reporters to find what was already known as the ‘Stockman party.’ … Now that an attendee has leaked photos from the party, I might as well report that the rumor was true. One of the hotel's suites—living room, den, veranda, garden, hot tub—was playing host to dozens of people. There were students, strategists, and reporters, decompressing after three days of networking and panels. And there was Rep. Steve Stockman, a few days on from his defeat in the Texas GOP Senate primary, holding court near a stack of Little Caesars pizzas. He was dressed down in a pullover, talking to young conservatives who seemed stoked to be in his presence. They filled their cups from a rapidly diminishing stash of brown and clear liquors. …

-- “Honestly, the brief encounter made me more confused than ever about the invisible-man strategy Stockman had just used in his disastrous Senate run. Why'd he hide from the press and the electorate? This was an affable guy who said what he thought and adhered to the principle of YOLO. It's like people said after Al Gore and Bob Dole lost the presidencies, then went on late-night comedy shows and revealed themselves to be human beings. Where was all that on the trail?” http://slate.me/1i5zy1o

MONDAY’S TRIVIA WINNER – Ron Lattin was first to correctly name a president who shares an undergraduate alma mater with the chief justice who swore him in. James Monroe and John Marshall were classmates at the College of William and Mary. Rob Green had another correct answer: James Buchanan and Roger Taney were both Dickinson College grads.

TODAY’S TRIVIA – In honor of Women’s History Month, Shelby Boxenbaum offers this question: Who was the first woman allowed to practice law before the Supreme Court? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day’s Huddle. Email me at swong@politico.com.

GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says “Sign Up.” http://www.politico.com/huddle/

** Presented by RepealSGR.org: Bipartisan/bicameral legislation to repeal the failed Medicare cost control formula called the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), and reform the Medicare physician payment system, has been introduced. The bill would create a system that is sustainable, fair and efficient, secure patient access and encourage quality, affordable care. SGR threatens patient access with drastic Medicare provider cuts. Physicians face constant instability, demonstrated by the 23.7 percent cut to physician payments scheduled for April 1. Congress has spent over $154 billion – more than the cost of the legislation – on 16 short term patches in the last decade. These patches are the equivalent of paying the minimum on a credit card – it delays the inevitable, increases the total bill and is bad for the budget. Republican and Democratic Leadership need to continue working together to develop bipartisan pay-fors so the House and Senate can pass S.2000/H.R. 4015, by March 31. www.repealsgr.org

** A message from the Stop The HIT Coalition: The Health Insurance Tax (HIT) drives up health care costs for small businesses, seniors, state Medicaid programs and middle-income Americans. The HIT is estimated to cost hardworking American families an additional $5,000 over a decade. And since the cost and consequences of the HIT increase over time, America’s small businesses and hardworking families are facing a bigger HIT every year. This translates to real jobs for businesses and real wages for families. That’s why the Stop The HIT Coalition – representing the nation’s small business owners and their employees – is working hard to repeal the HIT before it causes even more damage. Congress, please stop the HIT. Once and for all. http://bit.ly/1iE6tfW **

Authors:

About The Author

Scott Wong covers transportation for POLITICO Pro, and authors The Huddle, POLITICO’s popular morning tipsheet on Congress. He was a congressional reporter with the publication from 2010 to 2012.

He reported from Tucson, Ariz., after the deadly shooting rampage that severely injured Rep. Gabby Giffords and helped break a story about Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill’s private plane that led to her admission she owed more than $300,000 in state property taxes.

He got his professional start in journalism covering local government for two small newspapers in his native San Francisco Bay Area. He later became a staff writer for The Arizona Republic, where he covered the Arizona statehouse and Phoenix City Hall.

After graduating from UCLA, he spent a year teaching English in a rural mountain village in Japan. He is a member of the Asian American Journalists Association, and lives with his wife and daughter in Washington.